Tuesday, May 22, 2018

2003-04 Regular Season

When the Boston Bulldogs opened their training camp in
September, 2003, captain Scott Rose was conspicuously missing. By the time the
season opened on October 10, Rose was still without a new deal. Without him,
the Bulldogs did manage to go 5-3-0 in their first eight games when on October
27, a blockbuster trade was announced that rocked the hockey world. Rose was
dealt to the Minnesota Lumberjacks in exchange for Brendan Marlo. Marlo had
proven to be a budding superstar with the ‘Jacks but was growing unhappy with
his role on a deep team. Rose, on the other hand, was looking for a new
contract in the $10-12 Million range and Boston was unwilling to part with it. With
Marlo’s contract gone, the Lumberjacks had the cap room to sign Rose to a
six-year deal at $9 Million/year. Rose agreed to a discount when faced with the
very real possibility of winning a Lewis Cup in Minnesota.

It would be Boston, however, who would come out as the big
winners in the deal. One of the oddest things about the deal was that both
players wore number 2. In Boston, Marlo essentially just wore Rose’s jersey as
it retained the “C” as well. ‘Dogs coach Max St. Beaudoin had seen Marlo play plenty
of times in the Maritime Junior league and was impressed with his leadership.
Marlo led the team in scoring as the Bulldogs led the division for most of the
year, until a late-season surge by their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia
Redshirts, pushed them into fourth place. The Redshirts were enjoying another
strong season as Jared Baxter and Alexei Ivanov formed one of the deadliest
duos in the league, combining for 192 points.

Quebec returned to the playoffs, while Montreal, plagued by
injuries nearly missed for the first time since 1989. For the second
consecutive year, a dramatic playoff race formed in the South Division with
three teams chasing the division title and final playoff spot. Throughout the
year, Atlanta, Carolina, Miami, and New Orleans all took turns holding down the
top spot. The Sound, despite a historically embarrassing off-season, came
together to make a strong push for the division lead. 29-year old Kevin Jones,
with a lot of help from newly acquired veteran Lamar Jackson, proved to be a
surprising success behind the bench, despite no professional coaching
experience. However, it would all come crashing down in March of 2004, it was
revealed that Sam Bendt, who had been in a rehab facility since September, was
broke. The league was forced to take over ownership of the Sound and there was
no guarantee the franchise would even survive the remainder of the year without
folding. The mandate to GM Bill Draper from the league was to shed salary to
keep the team afloat. Since coming over from New York in the summer, Lamar
Jackson had handled the entire situation with the Sound with tremendous grace.
To thank him, Draper ensured that Jackson went to a contender, sending him to
Dallas just days before the trade deadline. The final nail went into the coffin
of the Sound’s 2003-04 season on deadline day, March 7, when superstar Brad
McNair and his $12 Million salary was dealt to Milwaukee in a blockbuster,
three-team deal that saw the Choppers send Peter Lundholm to Atlanta while the
Sound received a first-round pick directly from Milwaukee and prospect Alex Andreyev
from the Copperheads. In all, New Orleans unloaded $17 Million in payroll, and
also knocked themselves out of the playoff race.

The disaster in New Orleans opened up the South Division
playoff race considerably. Atlanta, now boosted by the addition of Lundholm,
Miami, and Carolina were left gunning for the final spot. It would come down to
the Copperheads and Raiders in the final days of the season, when it was
Atlanta, when disaster struck, this time in Atlanta. With two games to go in
the season, Copperheads’ forward Jason Ferland was arrested on assault charges
after an incident at a Miami nightclub. The league suspended Ferland, who was
not released from custody until the season ended anyway. The Carolina Raiders won
their final two games and clinched a playoff spot for the first time in four
years. “In the end, the team with the least amount of drama won out” said
writer Bill Wentworth.

There was not quite as much drama in the Western Conference,
where the Holiday Classic was played out west for the first time ever as
Minnesota took on St. Louis Christmas Day. The game went to overtime where the
Lumberjacks won 3-2, but it was the Spirits who created a stir, choosing to
wear their classic white uniforms from the dynasty years. The league announced after
the game that special retro jerseys would be worn at each Holiday Classic from
that point on.

Seattle, generally regarded as the PHL’s deepest team,
dominated the league. Former Washington Generals captain Rob Wentzel had taken
a huge pay cut to come to Seattle in the hopes of winning a ring, but Wentzel
was no passenger, finishing second in Wolves’ scoring. Chicago clinched the
Central Division, making it 35 consecutive seasons in the post-season, while Edmonton
finally broke out and won the North Division as Kris Nazarenko became the first
player in PHL history to begin his career with two straight 50-goal seasons.

The Kansas City Twisters and Dallas Desperados both had all
but lost the battle for the Central Division to Chicago when the trade deadline
arrived on March 7, but both teams were busy as they continued to battle each
other for home ice advantage in what appeared to be an inevitable first-round
meeting. Dallas rescued Lamar Jackson from the sinking New Orleans Sound, while
Kansas City acquired veteran Shannon Michaels from Calgary. Michaels had served
as the Wranglers captain since the early 90s and would be an unrestricted free
agent in the summer. The Twisters would ultimately edge out the Desperados for
fourth place and home-ice advantage in what promised to be a very entertaining
series.

In Milwaukee, the Choppers struggled throughout the year,
hovering around .500, until pulling off a huge three-way deal in March where
for the price of Peter Lunholm and a first-round pick, the Choppers received Brad
McNair from New Orleans. With the horrible situation in Louisiana behind him,
McNair exploded for 12 points in the final ten games as the Choppers won nine
out of ten to pull away from Winnipeg and secure the final playoff spot. It spelled
the end of a very promising season for Dan Crow, Jamie Moore, and a Winnipeg
team that had finally shown signs of life for the first time since reaching the
Lewis Cup Final in 1999. “It’s disappointing, but I think we’re on the right
track” said Crow.

There was also some improvement in Denver and St. Louis, as both
teams remained in playoff contention fairly late in the season. Sad news hit
St. Louis in February, as long time team owner Frank Wells passed away at 82. Wells
was beloved by the Spirits’ players and the fans in St. Louis as he built one
of hockey’s all-time greatest dynasties. The Spirits wore a special patch with
Wells’ initials on it for the remainder of one of the most eventful seasons in
PHL history.